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'Devastating' drought threatens to eliminate Sicilian goat type

A blazing sun shining on the arid hills of San Cataldo in Sicily signals only misery for regional goat breeder Luca Cammarata as he attempts to find something for his herd to consume among the barren landscape.

The grazing land is zero, Cammarata informed Reuters, looking sadly at his 'Girgentana' goats, a regional type that he and his fellow herders have looked for to safeguard and nurture however which is now threatened with extinction.

A water shortage is hitting main areas of Sicily such as San Cataldo, in the province of Caltanissetta, really hard, and reservoirs are running dry or operating at really low levels. A. lengthened dry spell last year led Sicilian authorities to ration. water, even for domestic use in significant cities.

Regional breeders, struggling to get their water, now fear they. may quickly be forced to send out the animals, bred for centuries for. dairy products consisting of ricotta cheese, to massacre.

There is no other method, no other option, Cammarata stated. If every last drop of water falling from the sky is not. collected, Sicily will end up being a desert.

The cost of water intake has actually doubled for Cammarata and. he has to count on the Carabinieri Forestry Department's tanker. truck that every 15 days reaches the province's farms and. livestock breeders.

We are offering support to these farms dealing with this. extraordinary dry spell, said Alessandro Panzarella, a member of. the Carabinieri Command for Forest, Environment and Agri-Food,. who with his olive-green tanker truck drives along dry and. dusty roads to help bring important supplies.

With only one tanker truck for the whole province, it. ends up being difficult to fulfill the needs of all the farmers, he. stated.

We visit numerous farms throughout the province of. Caltanissetta and the situation is dreadful.

Agricultural production across Italy shrank in 2015 as. white wine, fruit and olive oil output all took a hit from severe. weather events connected to environment change.

Sicily has suffered months of below-average rainfall, with. the Italian government stating a state of emergency. The. island has experienced climate change-related high. temperatures, setting a European heat record in 2021 of 48.8. degrees Celsius

(source: Reuters)